CHENNAI: A mysterious fire on Wednesday killed a 60-year-old man and his wife, the daughter of late Mumbai-based Tamil don Varadarajan Mudaliar, whose life was captured in the 1987 blockbuster film Nayagan.
Noticing flames and smoke billowing out of the windows of the first floor of Hemachander’s house in Raja Annamalaipuram, a neighbour alerted the police and fire service department at 1 am. Firefighters with three water tenders rushed to the spot and found the entire apartment ablaze. Battling thick smoke and soot, they entered the hall, where they saw the burnt body of Hemachander, former general manager in a Mumbai-based medical company.
His wife, H Mahalakshmi (48) lay dead on the cot in the bedroom.
While the Foreshore Estate police investigating the case cited electrical short-circuit in the air-conditioner unit as the cause for the tragedy, firefighters were baffled over the intensity of the blaze, “which was unusual in a residential apartment”, their chief, DGP R Nataraj, told Express.
Inspector V Kalian claimed that the fire in the bedroom spread to the curtains, books, furniture and false ceiling, engulfing the whole area.
Hemachander, an orthopaedic patient, tried to escape, but soon collapsed.
His wife, a kidney patient, choked to death. Two maids who were asleep in the kitchen, escaped by jumping from the first floor.